Darkness and Lightning 13: Shogun's Offer
Several orns had passed since Drift's reappearance in the Citadel of Shadows and the beating he had received at Dai Atlas' hands. Shogun had been watching the smaller mech, watching and thinking hard. It had taken him a while to decide on a course of action, but finally an idea had occurred to him.
The red Knight walked through the corridors of the Citadel, other Knights moving out of his way, heading to where he knew the gray and black grounder would be. His chores had him cleaning out one of the smaller training rooms, where a feud between two Knights had devolved into a fight, leaving bits of armor and energon all over the floor. Both would survive and had the dressing-down of a lifetime waiting for them, and Drift had been volunteered to clean up the mess.
Shogun casually glanced back down the corridor, making sure no one was paying much attention, before slipping into the training room. For a moment he watched Drift at work, smiling faintly at the grumbling that reached his audials, before making his presence known. "Drift."
He noted that he didn't startle the younger warrior, meaning Drift had known he was there. It was only when he spoke that the grounder turned his helm to look at the red giant.
"Shogun," he greeted in turn, his tone neutral but his frame speaking volumes of his lack of aggression towards the large jet.
The older mech inclined his helm, orange optics neutral. Keeping his body language and field non-aggressive, he walked over to stand next to the gray and black grounder. "I have... a proposition for you. And for Wing."
He very abruptly had Drift's full attention, and he suspected Wing's as well.
"We are listening," Drift confirmed, cautious but willing to hear him out.
The red mech settled into a crouch next to Drift, his Great Sword tilting to one side. "I can give you, and Wing, extra training, teach you things Dai Atlas and Axe haven't even hinted at yet. As well as better, and saner, mentoring on the laws and codes of the Knights and the city. Basically a fast track from new Knight to master-level."
"In exchange for what?" Drift asked evenly, only a mild hint in his field at just how interested he really was.
A red wing shifted. "The three of us have a common enemy... Eventually someone will bring him down, and then I'll probably be the Circle's leader. But I myself am an old mech. Who leads after me?" He lifted an optic rim, waiting to see if Drift could read between the lines.
The sharp flare in the grounder's field was too quick to be suppressed.
~Wing?~ Drift passed the offer on. He was definitely tempted. He was beyond tempted. Only his loyalty to Wing kept him from agreement immediately.
~That is something Knights very rarely are offered,~ Wing responded, excited and stunned by the offer coming from his creator's rival. ~It take centuries, millennia, for a mech to reach the master level. With his help, it would cut that time down considerably. Shogun is known for using more than just swords and his naginata. We should take him up on the offer.~
"You don't need to decide now," Shogun murmured. "You and Wing can take as much time as you need to consider." He passed Drift a datachip. "This is my personal comm frequency. You can let me know when you come to a decision."
"We accept," Drift answered for them both.
Shogun tilted his helm slightly, then nodded. "Both of us have duties to attend to now... Perhaps we can meet later to work out where to begin and see how our schedules shake out?"
"Of course," Drift agreed. "I have a meal break in two joors and I should be clear for the night in four."
Shogun thought for a moment. "I have another three joors left in my shift, and I'm due in the control room. I can meet you and Wing at The Larret after shift end, if that is all right with you two."
"We'll be there," Drift agreed after Wing gave a confirmation chirp. He watched the large mech leave and went back to work, but most of his attention was on his bonded and what was going on with Wing. ~This will seriously piss off Axe.~
~Oh, Axe will probably blow half his fuses,~ Wing agreed. A thread of unease tinted with fear threaded through the bond, but it was weaker than the excitement. ~Though it will be more about his creation being mentored by his rival. He won't be able to complain much about the quality of what we'll be learning.~
~Other than it's not on his timetable,~ Drift smirked, though he kept the expression off his features. ~What will you do with Starcrossed while we're both away?~
The dark jet hesitated. ~I'll have to put her in stasis for the meeting with Shogun, but the training will require both of us, and for longer than five joors.~ Wing paused, thinking, before speaking again. ~There are mecha in the city who care for sparklings and younglings while the creators are away or busy...~
~We just need one we can trust enough not to speak about who they're working for,~ Drift said grimly. ~Whether by bribe, blackmail or honor.~
Wing pondered. ~I'll access the city's database and see who is available. I think I've heard of a few who would work well.~
~I've leave that you to, then,~ Drift told his mate. ~Just how sane is Shogun, anyway?~
~I have known him all my life, and he is one of the sanest Knights we have,~ the dark jet replied. ~I've never seen him anything but very in control of himself.~
~A good one to ally with then,~ Drift didn't hide his relief.
"Shogun!" Axe roared his demand for the other master as he stalked through the halls, aiming for the library where he knew the senior Knight had his students.
Wing and Drift both tensed sharply, Wing trying to nudge his mate so the subject of Axe's ire was between them and the door his creator would come through.
The red mech looked up from the datapads he was working on, his expression neutral as he heard the bellowing. Heaving a purely internal sigh, he straightened as the black triple changer that looked him in the optics stormed in. "Yes, Axe?"
"What is the meaning of this?" he snarled, jabbing a finger at the two junior Knights studying.
"Studying," Shogun answered calmly. "And brushing up on the laws and codes of the Knights." He tilted his helm slightly. "What's the problem with that? It is information they will have to know, and you are clearly too busy for teaching."
Black armor nearly vibrated in rage as blue optics flashed near-white, causing Wing to push Drift back just a bit further as his creator sputtered. "My creation. My former Initiate. Their continued training is mine."
Red wings shifted, flaring ever so slightly. "You were busy, and more of your time was taken up with keeping Dai Atlas from killing anyone. I know our laws just as well as you, and I am much less inclined to lose my temper walking them through a complicated text."
"That does not give you the right to take over their education," Axe snapped, pushing his greater mass into Shogun's personal space with a lash across their fields.
The red Knight straightened his back, his wings flaring all the way out, his orange optics meeting blue. "I am well within my rights if I think their education has been neglected. And it has been." He waved the datapad he'd been reading toward the black triple changer. "Drift's in particular. He should be able to recite the Lineage of the Master of Shadows, the Laws of Shadow, the designations of every Great Sword and the designation of every mecha to bear his Great Sword by now. His katas are woefully behind given his natural talent and drive to perfect them."
"My student," Axe snarled, insistent on his right, even if it wasn't his right.
"My students now," Shogun rumbled in response. His field snapped at Axe's. The red mech was not going to back down.
An ugly snarl twisted Axe's features, sending the junior Knights scurrying for cover, or rather, sent Wing dragging his mate for cover. "Only if you can take them." Axe rumbled and stepped back to draw his great ax.
Shogun put the pad down, pulling out his naginata and activating the energy blade. Narrowed orange optics reflected the white glow of the blade as the red mech regarded his opponent.
"Not here," Shogun growled. "This is a library." He made a sharp gesture toward the door.
Axe snorted and pointed to the large door-windows that opened to the central courtyard of the Citadel.
Keeping his optics on Axe, Shogun sidled over to the doors, opening them. One wing flicked to Drift and Wing, a gesture to follow once Shogun and Axe were outside.
Other Knights looked up, taking in the sight of bared and activated weapons, and immediately moved out of the way, having an idea what was about to go down. Others gathered in a clump to watch from a safe distance that Wing and Drift joined the edge of.
Without so much as a growl Axe made the first move, a powerful swing intended to slice his opponent clean in half.
Shogun sidestepped, bringing his weapon around to parry the blow. Edged steel hissed against crackling energy as the naginata blade caught the black mech's ax. Proving just as fast as Axe, Shogun turned parry into strike, aiming for Axe's torso.
The black Knight snapped the long haft of his great battle-ax to block, twisting it around to knock the naginata out of alignment and put his larger, heavier blade into position to drive into Shogun.
The red mech twisted, using the shaft of his weapon to deflect the blow, using the force to pivot and bring the heavy metal end cap hard against Axe's knee joint. He took a glancing blow from the ax, but managed to avoid a much worse injury.
The black Knight growled, but the roar of powerful engines drowned it out as Dai Atlas came in for a landing across from the main gathering. The grin on his faceplates made more than a few of the Knights uneasy, but the leader's optics were fixed on his mate and the fight he was currently in.
Axe ignored his arrival, slashing out at Shogun in a twisting attack designed to take the other's arm off if he missed, and his torso out if it hit.
Shogun's optics narrowed as he twisted at an impossible angle, whipping his naginata around to catch the shaft between the blades of the ax, shoving it to one side. Energon seeped from a fresh gash across the red mech's side and abdomen as he twisted his weapon free, the blade coming around in a stabbing slash that sliced into Axe's canopy and the sensitive plating to either side of it.
A howl of pain greeted his first real hit of the match, and one of the better ones he'd ever landed on the older Knight. Taking full advantage, Shogun twisted the weapon to hook the curved tip of the blade into whatever circuitry was closest, then pulled his weapon free, tearing out clumps of wiring with it. Retreating a few steps, the red Knight fell into a guard stance, orange optics narrow and all his attention on his opponent.
With a roar of fury Axe rounded on his opponent to the gleeful laughter of his mate. The great axe glowed with energy as Axe focused on activating its more arcane abilities. While nothing compared to the power a Great Sword could bring to bear by drawing on spark energy, it still made the great axe significantly more dangerous as it swung at Shogun in an attempt to cleave him in two helm to pede.
Shogun pulled his wings in close, launching himself sideways and around. His naginata was a blur as he struck out at the black triple changer's knee joint with the heavy end cap a second time, metal giving way with a crunch, before striking at Axe's arm, aiming for the elbow joint or forearm as the black mech went down sideways.
"You're a dead mech," Axe hissed, using his turbines to help offset the leg that was no longer working and switching his grip to one hand.
The red mech remained silent, ignoring the energon oozing from his own injuries. He regarded Axe through narrowed optics, having tuned out pretty much everything but his enemy. Shogun paced sideways, staying to Axe's crippled side, forcing the black mech to work that much harder to get at him.
Turbines powered up, taking Axe completely into the air for his next attack, a powerful slash that caught Shogun across the face despite the speed the red mech jerked back with.
Shogun hissed in pain, backpedaling and shaking his helm. One optic had been badly cracked and was almost useless, but the other optic still worked. Snarling at his opponent, Shogun darted in, his own turbines roaring. The blade of his naginata took aim at Axe's shoulder joint, slicing half way through it as the black mech struggled to get out of the longer weapon's reach. It wasn't the complete amputation Shogun had hoped for, but it still made the limb dangle uselessly.
Shogun hovered just out of ax range but within that of his naginata. His working optic flared, naginata ready to strike again. "Do you yield?" he demanded, baring his dental plates at the growling, spitting mad black triple changer.
For a moment it looked like Axe wouldn't yield despite his damage, but eventually he growled and set down with as much dignity as he could muster with a mangled knee and two useless arms. "I yield."
Shogun's stance relaxed, but not by much. "Wing and Drift are my students now, and you have no right to interfere." He deactivated the energy blade of his weapon, dropping slowly back to the ground and leaning on the shaft.
The crowd's attention shifted from the combatants to the loser's mate and their ever-unpredictable leader. Most weren't sure what to make of the laughter or wide grin, but when Dai Atlas strolled forward to collect his mate and the great axe that Axe could no longer carry they relaxed in general. There would be no energon bath this day.
Shogun's helm snapped around as Dai Atlas approached, sidling out of the way warily. Tense red armor relaxed as the larger mech ignored him, then Shogun made his way over to where Wing and Drift stood. "We'll pick up where we left off at a later date. I'm due in for repairs now. But after this we shouldn't have any more problems with Axe." He nodded to both of them, then took to the air again, heading for the medical wing.
~I hope not,~ Drift murmured, leaning against his mate as the extra tension drained from him. ~I'd still bet on every way Axe is still allowed to make all three of our existences difficult and training time hard to come by.~
~I wouldn't put it past him,~ Wing replied, sneaking an arm around Drift's waist.